The non-profit Stronghold Society will host its One Gathering Skate for Life event on the Pine Ridge Reservation over the Labor Day weekend in 2016. Photo from Stronghold Society / Facebook
Pine Ridge Hosts Largest Skate Competition
By Brandon Ecoffey
Lakota Country Times Editor
lakotacountrytimes.com PINE RIDGE -- Colorado has the highest per capita rate of skateparks in the country and had enjoyed hosting what could be the largest Native American skateboarding competitions in the country. This however the event has found a new home at the Wounded Knee Four Directions / Toby Eagle Bull Memorial skate park in Pine Ridge. For the last six years the One Gathering Skate for Life event has been held in downtown Denver, Colorado. However, this year, new construction near the site of its downtown skatepark has resulted in one of the premier completions in the country to relocate to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, according to Walt Pourier of the non-profit Stronghold Society. "Denver has been awesome to us for the last six years but the construction of a new 3000 person apartment building has left us with no parking ," said Pourier. "There is some parking there but there is a two-hour limit on how long you can leave your car and last year it resulted in many of our attendees leaving," he added. The event itself has taken place on Labor Day weekend in the past and has seen nearly 2000 people attend in addition to the 65 volunteers who make sure the event runs smoothly. Pourier says that organizers attempted to work with other cities in the Denver area but the efforts were to no avail so they decided to bring the competition to the heart of Lakota Country. The park in Pine Ridge where the event will now take place is part of a series of projects built by the Stronghold Society. On Pine Ridge alone the organization has built two skateparks with the other located in Manderson and a third is set to be built in Thunder Valley. In all the Stronghold Society has more than twenty future parks planned for across Indian Country.
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The organization itself finds its origins with Nakota Designs that was created by Pourier but has grown into a movement that uses art, music, and skating to reach young people in Indian Country. Preparation for the event is set to begin this weekend as Pourier is set to travel to Pine Ridge with a group of volunteers who will host an art workshop in Pine Ridge on July 17 where a skate jam will take place in coordination with several Oglala Sioux Tribal programs. The volunteers traveling to Pine Ridge will conduct several maintenance projects on the park before traveling to Wounded Knee District School where they will begin work on a mural and conduct repairs on the skatepark located in Manderson. (Contact Brandon Ecoffey at editor@lakotacountrytimes.com) Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter and download the new Lakota Country Times app today.
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